These four people from Andover have taken on the challenge of the Reading Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd March 2014, all having never run anything like this before, nor run on a regular basis.

Here is their story spurring on the decision to do this and the little boy behind all their determination.

On 25th November 2012 Mike’s beautiful baby boy Rocco Collinson was born and everything seemed to be fine. But after a week Rocco became very poorly and Mike and Leah (Rocco’s Mum) were told that little Rocco may have some of the worst kinds of EB which would cut his life very short. None of them had ever heard of this terrifying awful condition.

But then a miracle happened! Rocco, the little fighter, started to recover and puzzled even the best doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

After a few very difficult months a diagnosis was finally made of Circinate Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex, which is an extremely rare version of this very rare disease (he was only the second baby in 10 years to be born with this condition) which luckily meant that Mike and Leah’s beautiful boy would live a normal happy life. However some families are not so lucky and unfortunately receive devastating news that they have to live with.

Mike, James and Natalie are running for DEBRA, and for all those other children with EB, with the hope of one day finding a cure to a disease which can be very cruel and no child should have to suffer like this.

DEBRA receives no government funding and relies on the generosity of the public. All their sponsorship will help raise funds to help them carry out their vital work, improving lives and giving hope.

No one can determine if their child will be born with EB, it is good to know that DEBRA is there with the aim of finding effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure for EB.

Sarah is running for Great Ormond Street Hospital, who played a huge part in the diagnosis of EB for Rocco and who treat all the other 150,000 children there every year. GOSH is full of remarkable children whose bravery touches everyone.

Every year they need to raise over £50 million to help replace cramped, outdated wards with new modern facilities, provide essential equipment and fund essential research to find treatments and cures for complex and difficult illnesses. Amazing things happen at Great Ormond Street Hospital every day.

TVBC Leader Councillor Ian Carr has announced he is to stand down in May 2017. In a press release, he said: After 18 years in the role, I have made the decision to stand down as Leader of Test Valley Borough Council, it is mid term in the Council calendar and I feel it is […]